Bob King

Bob King News

The United Auto Workers dropped its challenge to a February vote in which Volkswagen AG workers in Tennessee rejected representation, dashing one of labor’s best shots at organizing a foreign-owned car plant in the U.S.

Bob King , the next United Auto Workers leader, inherits a union that gave up thousands of jobs and billions in benefits to save the U.S. auto industry. His legacy will rest on how workers are rewarded in the recovery.

Opponents including a Tennessee U.S. senator are warning employees that voting for the United Auto Workers at a Volkswagen AG assembly plant in Chattanooga would bring the kind of economic malaise that crippled Detroit.

The United Auto Workers lost its bid to organize workers at a Volkswagen AG factory in Tennessee, a setback in its effort to gain a foothold in the U.S. South and a victory for Republicans who urged voting against the union.

United Auto Workers President Bob King said yesterday he has asked for higher wages for new workers at General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC, which he said won’t add to the companies’ fixed costs.